Touring Cars in Ireland?

qballirl

Can any one tell me if there is a class in irish motorsprt for amateur touring cars, im interested in getting involved in this sport but i really cannot find a single bit of information online in regards to this sport in ireland. Can any one advise?

nikimere

There isn't a "Touring Car" class as in the BTCC or WTCC kinda touring car class.
However there is a FIAT Abarth HGT Cup, and hopefully in 2009 a Renault Clio Cup.
I dont think there is a website with the info of the Abarth cup but if you post here what it is you wanna know i'll see if I or some others can help you out.

Motormouth

www.fiat-motorsport-club.bebo.com

qballirl

Cheers for the response lads also just wondered if there was any meetings on for cars that would fall into the touring car bracket as i want to get into racing 4 door saloon cars, would be great if there was somewhere that catered for this kind of category.

nikimere

qballirl wrote: »

Cheers for the response lads also just wondered if there was any meetings on for cars that would fall into the touring car bracket as i want to get into racing 4 door saloon cars, would be great if there was somewhere that catered for this kind of category.

Nope, not in Ireland anyway i'm afraid. No 4-door Saloon racing.
May i ask why you have an urge for "Touring Car" racing if you've never raced before?

qballirl

nikimere wrote: »

Nope, not in Ireland anyway i'm afraid. No 4-door Saloon racing.
May i ask why you have an urge for "Touring Car" racing if you've never raced before?

Just always enjoyed the sport the way it is not set to one class of car ie. fwd rwd 4wd and any specific manufacturer, never seen anything about any one doing it over here as an amateur circut so i taught id enquire on these forums.

nikimere

There used to be an Irish Touring Car Championship back in the early 90's but the budgets became way too expensive and it kinda died off. Nothing like what your looking for available i'm afraid.

SouperComputer

qballirl wrote: »

Just always enjoyed the sport the way it is not set to one class of car ie. fwd rwd 4wd and any specific manufacturer, never seen anything about any one doing it over here as an amateur circut so i taught id enquire on these forums.

The closest you will likely get to this is rallycross or rallying. I think there are some economical rallycross classes but rallying is expensive no matter what way you swing it.

I remember that touring class that Nikimere is talking about. Dunlop touring cup IIRC, it was FWD only from what I recall. The cars were prettymuch stock, just blueprinted. Before that we had the Sierra cosworth's, now that was decent!

Out of interest, what is your budget?

qballirl

SouperComputer wrote: »

The closest you will likely get to this is rallycross or rallying. I think there are some economical rallycross classes but rallying is expensive no matter what way you swing it.

I remember that touring class that Nikimere is talking about. Dunlop touring cup IIRC, it was FWD only from what I recall. The cars were prettymuch stock, just blueprinted. Before that we had the Sierra cosworth's, now that was decent!

Out of interest, what is your budget?

At the moment i dont have a budget i just wanted to get as much information as possible on what was out there but to remind im looking for an amateur circut which means ill be doing allot of things on my own on a low budget.

dubtom

Would the Dunlop super cars not be close to what your looking for?
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/1131/normalimg921018eb6790av8.jpg

qballirl

Is there any where that i can get resources on this class would be a great help cheers.

SouperComputer

qballirl wrote: »

At the moment i dont have a budget i just wanted to get as much information as possible on what was out there but to remind im looking for an amateur circut which means ill be doing allot of things on my own on a low budget.

Word of warning. Amateur does not mean cheap, especially if you expect to be competitive. In fact most series in motorsport globally are amateur. Running costs range from as little as 3000 ish to as much as 250,000 or even more. A prang will cost you the same money no matter what. You can save money by running yourself no doubt, but you still need to fund tyres, fuel, entry fees, transport, maintenance, rebuilds etc etc.

Dunlop "Super Cars" are based on the sierra platform and would be good fun to drive. I dont think id reccomend it to someone without prior racing experience though.

I think you might be better off buying/renting a punto/uno and getting in some laps.

If you call MI they might have more info: 01 677 5628

/edit MI = Motorsport Ireland, the FIA's arm here: www.motorsportireland.com

qballirl

Cheers for that SouperComputer youve been a great help will research the punto and uno racing.

Kali

SouperComputer wrote: »

Dunlop "Super Cars" are based on the sierra platform and would be good fun to drive. I dont think id reccomend it to someone without prior racing experience though.

Agreed, it's not a class for beginners... can be very pricey and you need to be quick as the grids aren't that big.

Best bet is try your hand at Unos and see how you progress from their on.. there are a few people who do rent out the Unos and Puntos (not Abarths).. do a couple of weekends, get to know a few of the people and I'd guarantee you'll get a couple of offers of cars to purchase

qballirl

Sounds like a good idea mate seen a race ready uno up for sale for stg1600 Irish car will have a further look into renting one is there a forum for uno racing that you know about.

SouperComputer

qballirl wrote: »

Cheers for that SouperComputer youve been a great help will research the punto and uno racing.

No Problem.

Not sure if you read Turlock's thread but heres some books I posted there that would be of use.


Inner Speed Secrets (Psychology)
Tune to Win. Hardcore racing & chassis physics
Fit for Motorsport

Scober11

There is a type of saloon car championship in Kirkistown at the moment, at the last meeting there was everything on the grid Scooby doo's, uno's, and i think i saw a twin cam at one stage this year also. Try kirkistown website (google it and it will come up). Give Richard Young a ring at the circuit and he can explain more or i can pm you his e-mail if you want it. Kirkistown is handy as it has a true relaxed clubman attitude to racing and when you convert the race entries and testing into euro its probabally the cheapest place to race. I think testing is £100 and you get a good discount on race entries if you do 2 races on the one day if they are availible.

Is there not a closed wheel libre race in mondello? for saloon cars.

Scober11

4 Door saloon car, maybe the thread starter had one in particular in mind, Uno's the last day in mondello were in with the global lights and it all got a bit messy, we need a class out there for tin tops as a sort of anything goes, at castle coombe you have evo's and 106 gti's on the one grid with most of the 1.6 's on black x's and seems to work fine, apart from the last day when an evo hit the pit wall, the only problem was he was about 4feet above it:eek:. I wouldn't worry about being a novice just look at open wheel libre, vee's and that weapon Dan Daily drives on the same piece of tarmac, now that is speed differential!

Motormouth

Sorry to be pedantic lads but just a coupla points....
The old Dunlop Touring Cars were just called that for promotional purposes, they actually ran to GpN regulations, and all just happened to be fwd, rwd would have been allowed to run also.
Dunlop Supercars do not run on a Sierra platform, they are full spaceframe chassis, produced by Sonny Howard in the Uk.
Unos have never run with Globals, but Strykers have on occasion.

Unos are the cheapest saloon class at about 2,000euro upwards. 90-95 hp, road tyres, but great to learn fwd car control in.
Punto 1400s have 115bhp (ish), run on slicks and have big brakes, typically 3 to 4 seconds a lap quicker than the Unos, costing about 5-7k.
Punto Abarths have 165-170bhp, again run slicks and cost typically 9-12k. About 2 seconds a lap quicker than the 1400s.
Dunlop Supercars have 220bhp from a Scholar built Zetec engine with a 6 speed sequential gearbox. They can lap Mondello National in under a minute and cost 20k upwards.....
Mondello are introducing a Saloon Libre class for 2008 which will allow any saloon car to compete so that could be interesting. There may be details on www.mondellopark.ie Kirkistown already have an Open Saloon class, although numbers have been a little weak and they usually end up running with another class.......
hope this helps.....

Kali

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Christ I remember doing a open wheel libre race in a Vee when the aforementioned Death Car that Dan Daly drives flew past me. I was instructed by my engineer to let him pass at all costs! The image of his front wing cutting my vee in half was not something I wanted to happen in real life!

I remember seeing him throwing that f3000 around around Snetterton a year or two ago on a test day, stunning to watch.. some sound out of it compared to the poor UK vees being swamped

SouperComputer

Dunlop Supercars do not run on a Sierra platform, they are full spaceframe chassis, produced by Sonny Howard in the Uk.

Shows how long ive been away. IIRC the last time saw one was circa 1999 or whenever class was being introduced. When I think back, it was a spaceframe alright. Im pretty sure there was a good few sierra parts on there (diff and driveline/bar gearbox).

Like I said though, long time ago!

qballirl

Sorry to be asking questions again but cheers for all your reply's could some one please break this down for me and tell me when or if it will be possible to race say a 2litre saloon car around ireland in a tournament? Cheers for all the help lads its been great, opened my eyes a bit.

Scober11

Try e-mailing MSI and they might be able to give more up to date info about running a 2 litre in mondello but you will defo be able to run it in Kirkistown.


Was that not a Uno that hit a global on day one(?) of the LT weekend in Mondello? almost sure it was, because a few of the drivers i was talking too were giving out about the fact that saloons were out with them. Think mondello staggered the grid with it being the international circuit.

qballirl

alright cool yeah i sent msi emails but they dont seem to be bothered replying thats why i came here but ill try again.

Motormouth

http://www.glueck-ober-pech.com/

))

Scober11 wrote: »

Was that not a Uno that hit a global on day one(?) of the LT weekend in Mondello? almost sure it was, because a few of the drivers i was talking too were giving out about the fact that saloons were out with them. Think mondello staggered the grid with it being the international circuit.

Nope, an Abarth.......